


Beach Trip

by happyaspie



Series: Tony Stark is a Good Mentor [12]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Beach Holidays, Beach House, Everyone Loves Peter Parker, I Love You, Ocean, Platonic Bed Sharing, Platonic Cuddling, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark is a Good Mentor, Tony Stark is helping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-06-09 23:51:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19486516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyaspie/pseuds/happyaspie
Summary: Tony has the pleasure of taking Peter to see the ocean for the first time where he realizes that the kid is no longer his just his mentee... he's become something... more.





	Beach Trip

"This is so incredibly awesome, Mr. Stark.", Peter said with awe as they pulled up to the beach house, Tony had rented for the next few days. 

Things had been going well, the team deserved some time off and he'd heard Peter mention some time ago that he'd never actually been to the beach. "I can't believe you've lived in New York your whole life and have never been to the ocean side.", Tony said with mild disbelief as he placed the car in Park. "It's just us for tonight, Kid. Happy and Rhodey are going to be here tomorrow afternoon."

"Awesome. I wish May and Pepper could have come too. That would have been even better.", Peter mused as he climbed out of the car and immediately started taking pictures of the house, with its light blue paint job, dolphin plaques, and a white picket fence. It looked like the stereotypical island escape sort of place you would see on the television. 

"I don't know... I kind of like the whole 'Boy's Beach Weekend" idea...", Tony said with a smile as he popped open the trunk and began to take out all of the numerous bags. Granted most of them were his but that was beside the point. 

Peter stopped mid-video to roll his eyes at his mentor. "It's Tuesday, Mr. Stark", He deadpanned before going back to the video he'd started. 

"Whatever, kid.", Tony quipped. "I'm not carrying all of this by myself so put that away and get your spider-butt over here." 

Walking into the house together was like a dream come true for Peter. The house was nothing like he'd ever seen before. Uncle Ben worked with a guy who owned a cabin by a lake. They'd been invited to stay there with them only once but it had been a lot of fun. Even now that he was older, May made a point of taking him a lot of places around New York but it was rarely overnight never to the beach. That would be far too expensive. 

The house only had three rooms, so Peter and Tony both dropped their things into the large master bedroom. The plan was for all of the adults to have their own room and Peter, being the youngest, would take the couch. "When are we going out to the beach, Mr, Stark?", Peter asked as he rapidly emptied his bag into the dresser drawer he'd been assigned. He'd already gotten redirected from the back porch five times in the last twenty minutes, he was itching to really get out there.

Looking up from where he was neatly laying out his grooming accessories on top of the dresser, Tony glanced towards Peter. "Later, we need to go to the grocery store.", he said casually, ignoring the frustrated sigh coming from the boy across the room. He was actually rather eager to get out there himself. The kid was fifteen and had never been to an ocean. He was sort of excited to be the one who got to share that moment with him for the first time.

_"You're_ going to the _grocery store?_ ", Peter asked with amusement. At this point, he'd been a lot of places with the man. The grocery store was not one of them. In fact, if they ever went anywhere like that, he just sent Peter in with some money and a list. 

"Do you want to eat while we're here?", Tony asked with mild annoyance. He was already underwhelmed by the idea of having to walk through a grocery store and now the kid was going to give him a hard time about it. He'd considered just sending Peter in but they needed five days worth of food for four people, that was a lot... and the kid wasn't old enough to buy beer. 

"I mean, I just never pictured you doing something as mundane as pushing a shopping cart, Mr. Stark.", Peter said with mirth. "... Don't you usually have all of your stuff delivered?"

"Trust me, if it was an option here, that's what I would be doing.", Tony sighed out. Then several minutes later, when he'd unpacked the last of his belongings into the closet he stepped out to find Peter sprawled out across the room's king-sized bed with his shoes kicked off by the side. Rolling his eyes at how quickly Peter had made himself at home, he crossed the room and gently nudged him in the shoulder. "Get off my bed and let's go get this over with, kid."

"Yes, sir.", Peter grumbled as he sat up and stretched. Laying down seemed to have reminded his body of just how long the day had been already. As Tony rushed him through getting his shoes back on he smiled, "Can we get Oreos while we're there, Mr. Stark?"

"Sure, why not.", Tony laughed. "You can get whatever you want. It's all on me anyway." Of course, when he'd said that he hadn't expected the kid to take him up on it and they ended up with at least three bags full every bit of junk food that Peter asked for. Though, Tony was pretty sure that at some point it had become more of a test to see if he would keep saying, yes than anything else. ...as if he would ever tell him 'no'.

Once back in the house, Peter was scrambling help get everything put away so that they could get outside and Tony humored him with a dramatic sigh. "Alright, fine, we'll put the rest of this away later. Go get changed.", he said feigning annoyance. Though nothing could have been further from the truth. The sun would be setting soon and he didn't want the kid to miss out on beach time their very first night in the house.

The second Peter got outside he suddenly grew almost timid. "Can I get in the water, Mr. Stark?", he asked with hesitation as he stood there and allowed the surf to come up over his feet.

"Of course, Kid. That's why here.", Tony laughed. When Peter didn't immediately charge into the water he took a few steps to join him at the edge. "What are you worried about?"

"I'm not worried!", Peter defended with a small glare that quickly turned into a smile, "I was waiting for you." With the mild reassurance, Peter made his way into the ocean until he was waist-deep in the tide, Laughing as the swell of the waves would strike him squarely in the chest. "This is awesome, Mr. Stark!" 

Once Peter was thoroughly involved in diving and leaping through the water, Tony made himself comfortable on one of the wooden benches and watched. He was just starting to doze off to the sounds of the sea when Peter appeared at his side requesting food. He wasn't sure why he was asking. The house they'd rented was no more than thirty long strides from the private community's beach that they were currently utilizing. it was easy enough to go in and out without a second's thought. "The house is right there, kid. Just go get whatever you want. ", he sleepily replied, gesturing towards the long wooden path that led to the back door. Though, he got up and followed all the same. The sun had nearly set and he was actually kind of hungry himself.

~o~o~o~o~o~

The next morning when Tony got up, he found Peter already awake and sitting on the back porch eating a bowl of the chocolate cereal he'd requested with a banana in it. The second he saw his mentor he scurried back inside. "Can we go outside after breakfast?"

"You can go outside whenever you want. I mean, you can swim, right?", Tony asked from across the room. Now that he thought about it, it probably would have been a good idea to have asked him about that yesterday but the kid didn't die so there was that. When Peter didn't answer right away he turned to look at him. "Yes, you can swim?"

"Sort of.", Peter admitted under his breath. "I don't know how to, like, _swim,_ swim... but I won't drown? I can float and stuff like that."

Nodding his head in understanding, Tony started the coffee maker. "You looked like you were doing fine yesterday.", he offhandedly commented though he made a mental note to teach the kid how to _actually_ swim at some point. 

"I'd rather wait and go out with someone else.", Peter replied as he refilled his bowl. "At least in the water. I might go outside and look for seashells or build a sandcastle or something."

"Suit yourself, kiddo but the offer stands." 

Peter ended up going out on his own and walking the shoreline, collecting a variety of shells. He'd managed to find a somewhat large one that was completely intact. He sort of hoped he could find another like it. He must have wandered a bit too far because after a while his pocket began to buzz with a text from Tony. ' _Where are you, kid? Not drowning I hope_.'

' _Not drowning. Went for a walk. I'll come back'_ , he shot back quickly. The text left no room for intonations so he had no idea whether his mentor was actually worried or not. When he got a message back saying that Rhodes and Happy had arrived he sped up. 

Once Peter got back into the house, he was immediately greeted by the two other men. He didn't think anything of it when Happy wandered off after telling him hello and was surprised to have a bright yellow pail, with little fish on it thrust into his hands moments later. "Tony said you've never been to the beach so I got you a little something.", the man teased. "It has a sandcastle mold and everything."

Peter knew the man was trying to get a rise out of him but he was actually kind of excited about it. Building a sandcastle was high on his list for the trip and a bucket and shovel would help. "You think you're funny but I am totally using this. Thank you Happy!", Peter chirped leaning in to hug the man. He could hear Tony laughing and saying 'I told you so' in the background but he didn't much care. Once he had set it aside he remembered the shell he had hidden in his pocket. "I almost forgot! Look what I found, Mr. Stark!"

"That's a nice one, kid. Good job.", Tony said as he rolled the large shell around in his hands. "You know if you go out first thing in the morning you might get a few other good finds."

"You can also try finding them buried in the sand under the deeper water", Happy provided before Rhodes came in with his own set of suggestions as Tony stood by and watched. It seemed his friends were just as eager as he was to share in on Peter's beach adventures.

~o~o~o~o~o~

The rest of the day went by quickly. Between playing in the water and digging around on the beach, Peter was exhausted by dinner. As such, they all settled onto the couches for a movie after dinner. they laughed their way through Jaws and then moved onto something tamer. Happy had picked it and the other two men seemed to be enjoying it but it didn't seem to hold Peter's attention. As such he was curled up on the couch and leaning onto Tony's shoulder within the first twenty minutes and was sound asleep not too much longer after that. 

Not really ready to go to bed but realizing they were all sitting in Peter's makeshift room, Tony shook him gently awake. "Hey, kid. Why don't you go to sleep in my bed for a while? I'll wake you up and you can come back in here when the movie's over." Peter rubbed his eyes and nodded before shuffling off towards the master bedroom, where he solidly slept for a few hours before Tony was entering the room. "Kid. Come on, Buddy. I made your bed up for you. Let's go.", he whispered upon entering his room.

Peter opened his eyes and looked at the man in confusion before remembering that he's gone to sleep in his bed while they finished their movie. He tried to pull the covers back but not being fully awake he was having some trouble getting them off. Then, after a moment's struggle, he seemed to give up and go back to sleep. Tony rolled his eyes fondly and opted to just nudge the kid over. It was a big bed. "If you're not going to get up, at least scoot over.", he sighed while climbing into the bed himself. He'd hesitated at first but then figured if the kid was uncomfortable, he could get up and go to the living room... _because Tony Stark does not sleep on a couch._

They stayed that way until some point before the sun rose. That's when Peter woke up and opened his eyes, surprised to see that his face was no less than five inches from Tony's. Then as he quietly gasped and made a move to back away he realized he had at some point while he was sleeping he'd grabbed ahold of the man's shirt. Then as if that wasn't embarrassing enough, Tony opened his eyes before he could completely let go and smiled at him. "You're fine, kid.", he whispered, reaching over and patting the hand that Peter had rapidly jerked back to his side of the bed. "Don't worry about it."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark.", Peter mumbled as he started to sit up. "I'll go back to my bed."

"Don't be sorry. You were tired. You don't have to go unless you want to.", the man assured and at those words, Peter sighed, laying his head back down onto the pillows both of them falling back to sleep quickly. 

Later the next morning, once they were all up and about, it didn't take long for Peter to convince everyone to head outside with him. While Rhodes and Happy spent the majority of the morning lounging in the provided chairs comfortably shaded by the large umbrella, Tony joined Peter in the water for a while. Tony mostly stood nearby while Peter continually dove below the water digging around for the promised treasures. 

By early afternoon Peter was slightly disappointed to have not found anything of significance and decided he was hungry enough to abandon the task for the time being. Heading inside to wolf down two large sandwiches and take a brief nap before he was more than ready to go out and try again. Tony tried and failed to get him to go out by himself so he begrudgingly followed him out the back door. A short time later, Happy followed, as did Rhodes. Only this time Rhodes joined them in the water a well, while Happy stayed on the beach. 

They were all wading waist-deep in waves talking when Peter suddenly ducked under. No one batted an eye, as he'd been periodically doing so all day long. What did take them by surprise was the scream that came out of him one he resurfaced. "What happened!", Tony gasped as Peter came up with a look of absolute horror across his face. 

"Something bit me!", Peter returned in something of a panic as he looked over the small finger on his right hand. "My finger. Something bit my finger. I'm getting out, Mr. Stark." He was already trudging through the surf when a hand reached out to grab him by the shoulder. 

"Wait!", Tony called out grabbing him before he could get too far. "What do you mean something bit you, kid?" He couldn't wrap his brain around what had just happened. The kid looked like he was in one piece but terrified all at the same time.

"Peter! Tony! Wait up!", Rhodes called as he tried to catch up with the two of them seeing as Peter had pulled out of Tony's grip without missing a stride and Tony was still running behind him.

With his heart still hammering in his chest, Peter called back behind him. "I need to get out!" His eyes were on the shore, where Happy was waiting for him with one hand outstretched towards him. He'd heard the commotion and come to meet Peter as tore out of the water. 

"Let me see it.", Happy said calmly once, Peter had reached him. Tony was shortly behind, having not quite been unable to keep up with Peter's speed. 

"It's bleeding!", Peter cried out, once his hand was in Happy's. Then, both Tony and Happy began to look over his entire hand, neither of them finding anything wrong.

"It's not.", Tony supplied, dropping Peter's hand and looking him over with concern.

Looking over the hand himself, Peter started to calm. "It was... I swear.", he said still slightly out of breath. By then, Rhodes had been able to join them and questioning what on Earth had happened. Both of the other men shrugged their shoulders and then all eyes fell on Peter. With all three of them looking at him expectantly, Peter began to explain. "I thought I felt a big shell so I went down to grab it but when I did something bit me. It was bleeding and it _hurt._ "

"It couldn't have been bleeding much. It's already healed.", Tony suggested before being unable to keep the smile to himself. At this point, he knew exactly what had happened. "Kid, nothing bit you. It was a crab."

"A crab?", Peter asked wide-eyes as it all began to come together in his head. Then with a nervous laugh, he looked back down at his hand. "It scared me I guess."

Happy smiled at him. "I think you scared it, is more like it.", he laughed. Peter nodded and walked past him, towards the benches where he wrapped a towel around himself and sat down. 

Tony joined him and patted him on the knee. He was somewhat worried that if the kid didn't get right back in that he might not ever do it. Though, he wasn't sure why. The kid was tough. Tough enough to not be so spooked by a little pinch that he would shy away from something he'd been enjoying for two days now. "You're okay. Ready to get back in?", he asked with a smile. 

Peter lifted his head up for only a moment to address his mentor. "No way, Mr. Stark. Nuh-uh. I'm staying right here.", he laughed out but his tone was serious. "Maybe, maybe later." 

Rhodes looked at him for a moment and crossed his arms over his chest. "Are you seriously not getting back in because of one little crab?"

"It _wasn't little._.. and I'm resting.", Peter defended with a smile. Though, in reality, he was thinking that there was no way he was getting back into that water. Clearly, there were things in it that were out to get him. 

"Oh, get up.", Tony laughed. "You're fine you big baby." He was trying to make light of the situation. For some reason that seemed like the right thing to do, though he may have missed the mark a bit.

Glaring in his mentor's direction Peter sat up and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not acting like a baby, Mr. Stark. The ocean _attacked_ me."

When all three men began to laugh Peter got up and headed towards the house. "Ah, come on, Pete. Where are you going?", Tony called out through the fits of laughter. He hadn't meant to make him mad. 

"I'm going to get a drink.", Peter announced, never looking behind him.

"We have drinks right here!", Happy provided, holding up a bottle of water from the small cooler they'd brought out to the beach.

Peter paused and threw his head back in frustration. "I'm going to get a snack, then!", he snapped, still looking forward. 

Tony squinted his eyes at the boy's tone but laughed all the same. "Hey, now.", he warned. "No need to get all _crabby._ "

"Seriously, Mr. Stark!", Peter called out, this time over his shoulder. Then went inside and changed into dry clothes. He had no intentions of going back out that day.

After being inside for no more than thirty minutes, Peter heard the door squeak open and the footsteps that followed. He could tell by the gait alone that it was Tony and at that moment he wished he had his own room to duck into. "Hey, Mr. Stark.", grumbled once the man came into veiw.

Tony stopped just short of the living room, taking in the fact that Peter had already showered and was in shorts and a t-shirt. "You're seriously not coming back outside?", he asked in disbelief. The kid was enhanced, he spent all of his spare time as a vigilante, had been shot not even a month ago and he was scared of a little pinch from a crab? 

Glancing sideways towards the man who was now walking towards him, Peter hesitantly responded. "That depends, Mr. Stark. Is everyone done laughing at me?"

"No one was laughing at you, kid.", Tony replied mildly before quickly amending his statement when the boy's glance turned into a glare. "...okay maybe we were. ....a little but we didn't mean to upset you."

Dropping his head back onto the couch, Peter made a small noise of frustration. "It scared the crud out of me, Mr. Stark, and everyone laughed. What part of that was not supposed to upset me?"

Sitting down and placing a placating hand on the boy's shoulder, Tony offered a weak smile. "Okay, I get it. I'm sorry. We shouldn't have laughed.", he said with a shake of his head. None of them had taken into account how sensitive the kid could get or the fact that all of this was a new experience for him. 

Several minutes passed before Peter responded and when he did it was with a slight smile. He supposed that looking back he could see the humor of the situation. "I guess it was _kind of_ funny... but it still hurt.", he said as started looking over the finger again as if his healing factor hadn't completely taken care of the minimal damage in a matter of seconds.

Sighing, Tony stood up and looked towards the back door. "You want to just call it a day and watch some movies or something? We can go out again tomorrow if you want to. Maybe even get out there early enough to walk the beach as the tide starts to fall.", he suggested with a shrug of his shoulders. There was no point in pushing the issue. 

"Only if everyone wants to, Mr. Stark. You guys don't have to come inside because of me.", Peter replied dejectedly. 

"Kid, we were all _out there_ because of you. This is basically your trip. I wanted to show you the beach and they wanted to come along."

Suddenly feeling guilty for seeming ungrateful, Peter looked up at his mentor. "Thank you, sir.", he quietly uttered. "I'm sorry I'm acting like a baby..."

"You're not acting like a baby.", Tony sighed out in frustration, mostly with himself. "I shouldn't have said that. Now, let's go get them inside and we'll start up another movie."

The remainder of the day was spent watching movies and sitting around the kitchen table teaching Peter how to play poker. Tony had tried to veto all betting, saying that they should be setting an example and not teaching the kid to gamble but in the end, he lost out. Oreos and gummy worms passed out as currency and it was a chore to keep Peter from eating his winnings the second they made it in front of him. All in all, it was a good day. 

Peter fell asleep on the couch by eleven and this time, everyone left him there, heading into their own rooms. Then, early, early the next morning, Peter found himself being shaken awake by Tony. "Hey, kid. Let's go walk the beach.", he said quietly as Peter began to run his hands down his face. Seeing as he'd never actually changed out of his clothes from the day before, it was easy enough to get ready to walk out the door.

It was well before sunrise so they had to use Flashlights to navigate their way down the shoreline and as promised several large shells were located along the way. Then, as the sun started to peek over the horizon they walked back towards the house and sat on the porch to watch it. "Thanks for doing this for me, Mr. Stark. It's been a lot of fun.", Peter said just as the sun was starting hover over the sea. 

"We still have a couple more days, you know. We aren't leaving after breakfast.", the man laughed towards the boy who was sitting across from him. He knew what Peter had meant, the kid was feeling grateful at the moment and expressing his feelings came naturally to him. Tony almost envied the ease at which Peter could express such things.

Crossing the small enclosed porch, Peter took a seat directly beside Tony and smiled. "I know we still have time, Mr. Stark. I just wanted you to know that I appreciate it. This has been really great so far."

"Yeah?", Tony asked as he leaned back and wrapped an arm around the kid's shoulders. "I've had fun too." He really had. Taking Peter to the beach had been one of his more genius ideas and he was glad he'd followed through. Making Peter happy was something he'd come to enjoy. Maybe even take some pride in.

Peter yawned and leaned into his mentor's light embrace. He couldn't have gotten more than a few hours of sleep before Tony had woken him. "I'm tired.", Peter admitted as he allowed his head to lull more heavily onto his mentor's shoulder. Between the lack of sleep, early morning walk and the calming sound of the waves hitting the shore, allowing himself to relax had been something of a last straw before his body decided it was exhausted. 

Nodding in agreement, Tony leaned his head over and rested his cheek on top of Peter's head. Something he didn't even think twice about doing but realized how parental it was the moment he did it. He smiled at himself when he realized that he didn't actually mind. "You can go back to bed if you want to. You can even take my room so no one disturbs you when they get up." 

"You're not tired?", Peter asked with a yawn that he couldn't quite hold back. 

Tony tried his hardest to stifle the returning yawn but he was sure Peter must have noticed anyway. "I can doze on the couch.", he assured. Going back to bed wasn't typically a thing that he did. Usually, once he was up, he was up but he had to admit that it was tempting this morning. Maybe it was the sea air... maybe it was the company... but he could practically hear that bed calling to him.

"I don't want to take your bed if you're tired too.", Peter sighed out because a real bed actually sounded pretty nice. He wasn't going to just take it over though. It had already been decided that he would sleep on the couch and it wasn't like it was uncomfortable. ...it just wasn't the same as a bed. "I can always nap later if they get too noisy." 

"... or we could just both go to my bed.", Tony said with a shrug of his shoulders. They already shared a bed once and it hadn't been weird. Or he didn't think it had been. He supposed if Peter didn't like the idea he could simply decline the offer. "It's not like that hasn't already been a thing this week. May as well be comfortable, yeah?"

"Mm-hmm. Yes, sir.", Peter said with a smile and followed the man across the house and into the large bed. After laying there for several minutes staring at ceiling Peter started to feel sleep taking over. Then curing onto his side he yawned again and before he could stop himself he was whispering, "Goodnight, Mr. Stark. Love you." The last two words had left his mouth with such ease that he surprised even himself. He nearly apologized but then stopped himself because he realized that he wasn't sorry at all. He meant it.

Tony rolled over and looked at the boy for a moment before smiling softly. "Yeah?", he finally asked, more so to verify that he'd heard correctly than anything else. It just seemed so unreal. He supposed he already knew that the kid loved him. He'd just hadn't expected to ever hear it.

Peter swallowed hard and closed his eyes. "Yeah. I do." It was almost as if he was worried that the man wasn't going to reciprocate the feelings. He knew that Tony wasn't super expressive about emotions, not verbally anyway but this trip alone had made it pretty obvious that the man really did love him. 

"I love you too, kid.", Tony finally replied with a deep sigh because this trip really had been a good idea. More than good really because all of the undistracted time alone had made him realize that Peter wasn't just his mentee anymore. He'd become something far more important. Maybe he'd known for a while but this little vacation had sort of solidified everything and hearing the kid say that he loved him was probably the greatest thing that would come out it. With those thoughts, he fell asleep, a smile still gracing his lips because apparently... he had a kid.


End file.
